


Play a Tango

by voleuse



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-27
Updated: 2008-01-27
Packaged: 2017-10-04 02:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>But sometimes, sweetheart, a woman needs a man who loves her ass.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Play a Tango

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 3.10. Title and summary adapted from Sandra Cisneros' Moon and You're Not Here.

Robin woke up cold, and her neck ached. It was still dark, but when she stretched her arm out, her hand slapped against solid, warm flesh. She rolled onto her side and looked Barney in the eye.

"I thought Lily was kidding about the one-pillow thing."

Barney scowled. "Lily knows too much." He was probably trying to sound ominous, but it came out more pouty than anything else.

"It's freezing," Robin observed, and she stole the blanket with an efficient tug. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep, ignoring Barney's plaintive, "Hey!"

When dawn arrived, she was already gone.

*

 

That evening, she was the second to arrive at the bar. Barney, as usual, was already there, ordering a gin and tonic for himself, and a pitcher of beer for the table.

She slid into the booth without greeting him, and she expected his grin when he joined her.

"Let me guess," he said. "You're feeling guilty about last night, but not guilty enough to _not_ ask for more." She started to speak, but he held up his hand. "You thought you'd satisfy your curiosity with one night of unimaginable pleasure, but instead, you find yourself longing for another taste." His fingers curled, and he looked into the distance, rapt.

In response, Robin smiled. "I am dying for some nachos."

Marshall arrived before Barney could say anything else, and she challenged him to a mozzarella stick duel.

Sometime around ten-thirty, Barney slid his foot against hers, under the table. She kicked him, and asked Wendy to bring him another gin and tonic.

She went home alone that night, almost completely satisfied.

*

 

It was twenty-five minutes to broadcast, and Robin sipped water while her hairstylist sprayed on two minutes' worth of Aquanet. Her cell phone rang, and that's how she discovered Barney had reprogrammed her contacts to list him as _The Best I've Ever Had_.

"You know it's true," he crowed when she answered, her teeth clenched into a smile so her make-up artist could apply the proper amount of blush. "Don't bother denying it."

"I don't have time for this right now," she told him.

"Try not to think about me on the air," he said. "I know it'll be hard. And you know what else--"

She hung up.

*

 

She skipped the bar that night, opting for drinks with a couple of colleagues. When she arrived home, past midnight, Barney was leaning against her door, a bottle of wine in hand.

"I see what you're doing, Scherbatsky," he proclaimed. "I respect your methods."

Robin reached around him to unlock the door, and he followed her inside. "My methods?" She dropped her purse on the coffee table.

Barney sauntered into the kitchen and pulled two glasses from the cabinet. "They're transparent, of course, to someone of my caliber."

"Of course." Robin kicked her shoes off, slid out of her coat. He offered her a glass of wine. She took a long sip, and watched him watching her.

When she set the glass down, he cleared his throat. "Someone less sophisticated than myself would find your hard-to-get thing," he gestured at her with his free hand, wiggling his fingers, "intriguing. Even, dare I say, maddening."

Robin unwound her scarf and let it slide over her shoulders.

"Luckily," Barney continued, his voice pitched the slightest bit higher, "I'm immune to ploys like that."

"Right." Robin took his wine glass and set it next to her own. She tugged the knot of his tie loose.

Barney clutched at her elbow. "Totally immune."

She undid three buttons on her blouse, and then shrugged. "That's a shame." She walked neatly around Barney and headed towards her bedroom.

He reached it before she did, just like she knew he would.


End file.
